This invention relates generally to the evacuation of contaminated casualties from a chemically contaminated environment and, more particularly, to the protection of attending personnel during evacuation, treatment and decontamination of such casualties.
Within the scope of personnel protection against a chemically contaminated environment, such as would result from chemical warfare or hazardous chemical spill, the protection of individuals is a high priority. Effective protection of individuals is provided by a protective garment which includes a sealed face mask and respiration system to filter and purify air drawn into the garment. Unfortunately, protective garments can be damaged and oftentimes many persons within an area which becomes chemically contaminated do not have the benefit of protective garments. These vulnerable persons become casualties of the chemical contamination and are referred to herein as contaminated casualties.
When a contaminated casualty is discovered, it is imperative to the survival of the casualty that decontamination and medical treatment be obtained as early as possible. For treatment, a casualty must initially be transported to an uncontaminated treatment enclosure, be decontaminated and then passed into the treatment enclosure. Of course, attending personnel must be protected from contamination during contact with contaminated casualties.
A presently accepted method for decontaminating a casualty and passing the casualty into a treatment enclosure is by means of an airlock system. The airlock concept requires a minimum of two doorways and a separate intermediate compartment sufficiently large to accommodate decontamination by attending personnel. The airlock concept also greatly increases the demand for filtered air for ventilating and purging the airlock compartment. This additional requirement results in a major increase in the size and cost of the air purification equipment necessary for the operation of the treatment enclosure.
An additional problem with airlock systems is that they provide for safe entry of only one or a small number of casualties at a time. Further, a relatively large time interval, on the order of 10 to 15 minutes, is required to safely and completely execute the entry procedures for a treatment enclosure equipped with a conventional positive pressure airlock system.
Rapid entrance and egress of personnel encapsulated in protective garments into and out of treatment enclosures or other protective shelters, as well as the treatment of casualties encapsulated within such protective garments by moving them into larger protective shelters, was addressed by U.S. patent application Ser. No. 390,100, filed June 21, 1982, and assigned to the same assignee as the present application. Also, the treatment of casualties encapsulated in protective garments while in a chemically contaminated environment was addressed by U.S. patent application Ser. No. 501,733, filed June 6, 1983, and assigned to the same assignee as the present application. However, these applications address neither the problem of evacuating contaminated casualties which are not encapsulated in protective garments from a chemically contaminated area nor the protection of attending personnel during evacuation, treatment and decontamination of such casualties.
Accordingly, the need exists for a method and apparatus for rapid evacuation, treatment and decontamination of contaminated casualties from a chemically contaminated environment which assures protection of attending personnel.